Editorial: Celebrating the Waikato

OPINION: We're a proud bunch in the Waikato and with good reason. Ours is a top province; a growing region with so much to celebrate from the people to the fabulous events and natural beauty that can be seen from Lake Taupo to the tip of the Coromandel.

Thanks to our farming base we're one of New Zealand's economic powerhouses. In addition, we have a flourishing arts community, rich cultural history and are a hotbed for innovation. Sport, inevitably, has played a large role in the development of our distinct identity, which continues to evolve and become richer.

It's weird then that we still don't have our own anniversary day.

Auckland has one, so do Wellington and even Nelson, and now Taupo and National MP Louise Upston wants the Waikato to have its own too. Mrs Upston wants the Waikato to cut the 160-year long tie with Auckland's Anniversary Day, which falls on the closest Monday to January 29, and choose its own day to celebrate the region.

She says a "misconception" has lingered that the holiday needs to be approved by central government when it can be pushed through at district or regional council level.

The National Agricultural Fieldays in June, Melbourne Cup Day in November, a Kowhai festival and a day to celebrate the formation of the Kingitanga movement have all been mooted. Each has their supporters.

Hamilton resident Jack Linklater said the date needed to be significant to the Waikato and having it coincide with Fieldays would be a way of celebrating its farming roots. However, he wasn't a fan of having an anniversary day coinciding with the Melbourne Cup, which would be akin to celebrating something Australian.

Hamilton City Council mayor Bob Simcock said it was not the first time having a uniquely Waikato Day had been discussed and that Nga Mana Toopu Kirikiriroa's idea of hosting an annual Kowhai Festival when the river banks would be a sea of yellow had been mooted.

Waikato Chamber of Commerce chief executive Wayne Walford said having a different day to Auckland was great for the Waikato in a parochial sense, but could be frustrating for businesses. He also thought having a holiday on the Friday of Fieldays would give people something "significantly Waikato" to enjoy. But perhaps it needn't all be the complicated. Life-long Waikato resident Lynley Woods already writes Waikato Anniversary Day on her calendar over Auckland – couldn't we just follow her lead and change the name of the day? Let's be honest – what most of us really want is another day off, but since that is unlikely to happen then why not stick to a summer date when the weather is better and we can make the most of the longer daylight hours? Fieldays is in the heart of winter and most farmers don't recognise public holidays anyway.

Changing the name of the current day looks the best option – what do you think? Email us your opinion to editor@waikatotimes.co.nz

- © Fairfax NZ News